Just Kiss Already
by FeebleHearts
Summary: Lucy is tired of Natsu and Gray's fighting foreplay, and during the Christmas Party at the Guild, she decides to do something about it... Only to realize their fight was about more than she suspected.
1. The Christmas Party

**A/N - After some consideration... I am going to try and continue this work. I'm not sure how long it will be or if it will have any plot, but *shrug***

Christmas at the Fairy Tail guild hall was always a huge "to-do". Decorations were hung from every available wall space, most of them homemade by the children who grew up with the guild as their only family. So there were faded construction paper Santas and Snowflakes, as well as oddly preserved gingerbread houses. Festive wreaths were hung around the guild as well as more mistletoe then should be legally allowed in one place. There was one giant Christmas tree in the center of the main hall that reached all the way up to the second story and had a Fairy Tail symbol at the top, glittering and… on fire. Because this was Fairy Tail. And Natsu and Gray were fighting again.

Lucy sighed. It was so obvious to her just why they were fighting all the time and she wished the two idiots would figure it out. The blonde haired celestial mage leaned against the bar as she watched the two wrestle on the floor. Hair was being pulled, half-hearted punched were blocked, bodies were flipped around, and of course, magic was flying everywhere.

Soon the Fairy Tail symbol at the top of the tree was coated in ice as Gray shouted, "Dude, squinty-eyes, watch it! You almost took out the tree!"

"What'd you say droopy-eyes? Say it again to my face!" Natsu shouted in return, half-hearted punch aimed for Gray's face, that was blocked by a shield of ice, which was then melted by a flaming iron fist.

It went on. And on.

Lucy turned to face Mira who was behind the bar gathering together supplies for the next guild activity. Lucy had no idea what the eldest Strauss had planned, but it looked she was trying to mastermind the next generation of Fairy Tail through overly suggestive white-elephant gifts. There was also a 'Partners' list, which Lucy assumed was how Mira planned to couple people together for whatever was planned. Lisanna and Bickslow. Erza and Laxus (which actually surprised Lucy, she never imagine the two holding any feelings for each other). Then there was Levy and Freed, Gajeel and Juvia, Cana and Gray, and then Natsu was paired with herself. Lucy chuckled.

"Mira, you forgot yourself, and you got some of those pairs wrong."

"What?" Mira looked at her board that had guild members listed with their partners.

"And what about Max, Jet, Droy, Bisca, Alzack, Elfman, Evergreen, Mest, Laki...?"

"Oh! Well, I have a few more boards, I couldn't fit everything on one. What did you say I got wrong?"

"Gray and Natsu should be paired together," Lucy stated seriously.

"Um," Mira glanced at the two wrestling mages with a raised eyebrow. "I'm afraid I don't quite get what you're saying. Those two have never gotten along."

Lucy snorted and then chuckled, "They more than get along, they just don't know how to get to the next step."

Suddenly Mira was in matchmaker mode. A sly smile covered her Christmas-red lips and her green elf hat looked more like it held devil horns in place of pointed ears. Lucy blinked at the transformation but then grinned. Maybe with Mira's help she could get her ship to sail.

"Haven't you ever noticed how their insults are actually things they respect or like about each other," Lucy whispered as she leaned over the counter to be closer to her co-conspirator.

Mire cocked her head to the side and tuned her ears into Gray and Natsu's shouted insults:

"Ya pervy stripper! Got your underwear!" Natsu cackled as he jumped around the room.

"Give those back ash-for-brains! I'll freeze your balls off!" Gray retorted. He showed no shame as he jumped after his fiery rival stark naked across the guild.

Mira turned back to Lucy, "So you're saying Natsu steals Gray's clothes because he likes the view? And Gray, what? Likes to like ball popsicles?"

"Ew, Mira, too far. Yes to the first bit. I mean, Natsu steals Gray's boxes at least once a week, usually when we just get back from a job where there was little fighting involved. And look where his eyes focus when he turns to mock Gray…"

"Oh my…" Mira giggled. "So what able the whole droopy-eyes and squinty-eyes thing?"

"Have you ever asked Natsu what his favorite color is?"

"No. I assumed it was red or orange, like fire, I guess," Mira answered as she popped a green olive between her lips. "What does that have to do with the eye insults?"

"Well. Natsu's favorite color is blue. Specifically dark, ice blue."

"Huh," was all Mira could muster up as a reply. "And Gray?"

"Well, Gray tends to lose his train of thought any time Natsu stares him down. It is kind of cute actually, but annoying on jobs. Makes it hard for them to communicate. Gray passes it off like he just doesn't want to listen to the 'flame-brain', but if you are looking for it, you can see his mind just blank out."

"If I had known you had such juicy details about those two I would have trapped you and gotten you to talk much sooner." Mira giggled and started to mix Lucy a strawberry daiquiri as a thank you.

"That's not it, either," Lucy teased once the drink was set in front of her. She took a sip as she watched Mira's eyes glow with the light of her multiple demon souls.

"Ooooh, do tell," Mira purred. She served herself a shot of tequila, chasing it with salt and lime, and then grinned like the Cheshire cat at Lucy who was starting to giggle.

Lucy wiggled her eyebrows and leaned into the bartender before teasingly whispering, "You should see them cuddle while we're camping on the road."

"WHAT!?" Mira exclaimed. The guild hall barely even noticed her sharp yell, though, as the brawl that was Natsu and Gray had stepped up to the next level now that Gray had his boxers back. A flaming table was flying across the guild only to be shot down with lightning as it came too close to the Thunder God Tribe's table. An ice cannon and flaming wing attack later had Gajeel and the visiting Sabertooth dragons throwing themselves into the mix.

Lucy giggle again. Her daiquiri was drained now and her need to spread the best gossip was at an all-time high.

"They go to extremes to hide this and I only caught it by accident once…. But it is so adorable. Gray will snuggle up to the fire and Natsu will spoon his back."

"Oh my Mavis! Are you kidding me?"

"No! I have a theory about it too!"

"Tell me!" Mira demanded.

Lucy smiled, "It is sweet. It is like Gray can't get warm enough because his body is always so cold and Natsu can't get cool enough because he is basically running a fever constantly. So they cuddle up."

"Aww…. You saw them?"

"Yeah! Gray was all curled up in a ball close to the fire pit and Natsu just snuggled up to him like he was some giant teddy bear."

Mira squealed. "Eeek! Ahhh! I have to change everything now!" Mira was reviewing her board. "But who will I match you and Cana with now?" she pouted.

Lucy shrugged, "Cana would probably be a better match for Laxus than Erza would don't you think? Or is there something I don't know about?"

Mira wiggled her eyebrows and said, "I may have stumbled on a certain lightning dragon and Requip mage rage kissing last week."

Lucy's hand went to cover her mouth as she gasped and then yelled, "Holy shit!"

Mira nodded and smirked. "Look at them trying to avoid contact at all cost, but I know the trrruuueth!" the demon sang.

Lucy laughed and turned to watch the chaos of the guild. "See, look. Gray and Natsu have left the larger brawl to go off and fight between the two of them! I swear it is like their foreplay. They just need to be pushed a little further…. MIRA! Do you have any extra mistletoe?"

Mira bent down to look through some boxes that were behind the bar. After some shuffling and a thorough minute of searching it out, Mira found a short stick that held a small branch of the Christmas tradition hanging from a string.

"PERFECT!" Lucy squealed in a high pitched voice that had ALL the dragon slayers turning to her and wincing.

Lucy was off and running across the guild before Mira could ask her what she was planning. The young celestial mage ducked under flying tables and chairs, dodged wayward magicks, and jumped fallen guildmates as she made her way to Gray and Natsu's private brawl.

Lucy tch'd as she watched the two roll around on the floor, taking turns pinning each other and growling incoherently.

"You two aren't fooling anyone, ya know," Lucy said as she sat at a neighboring table, hiding the mistletoe behind her back.

The two stopped growling at each other to look up and growl at her. The heat in their eyes as they both locked on hers made her shiver. Gray was still missing most of his close and his blue eyes were dark with, well, she wasn't quite sure. Meanwhile, Natsu's odd hazel-green eyes were more black than anything and Lucy was feeling like she had poked a bear, err, dragon.

"What'cha talkin' 'bout Luce?" Natsu questioned.

"Ya, Lucy…" Gray struggled to say as he flipped Natsu over and placed his knee on Natsu's chest to hold him down. Natsu protested, but Gray just glared down at the fire dragon and silenced the teenager with a dark look. "What aren't we fooling people with?"

Lucy rolled her eyes, "You know, no one here will judge either of you for your choices." She smiled at them brilliantly as she added, "We're Nakama after all!"

"Huh?" Natsu questioned, looking up at Gray with a puzzled expression. Lucy, however, didn't miss how Gray froze in place for a moment like he had been caught doing something wrong.

"The guild is your family guys, no one will think less of you for falling for your best friend!" Lucy smiled again. She wasn't sure how to be more obvious, but the two idiots just looked at her dumbfounded. So, Lucy huffed in annoyance, stood over the two clueless boys and held the mistletoe above them.

"Your fighting doesn't fool me, now just KISS already!"

The two mages blushed madly, their eyes glancing at each other before looking back at her and then back at each other.

Lucy grinned. She knew it! Gray shrugged as he looked down at Natsu, and the pink haired boy looked like he was a lost school girl as he sputtered a protest, "Gr-ray… I don't know what you're thinking bu-but...mhmnf…."

Gray had leaned down and pecked the dragon on the lips.

"GRAY!" Natsu yelled. "What the hell man!?"

"She already knows, Natsu," then Gray grinned up at Lucy. "How long have you known?"

"For a while," she answered non-committedly.

Natsu was finally able to throw Gray off of him and glared at the ice mage. "We promised we weren't going to tell her until she knew everything," he mumbled angrily.

Gray shrugged again, "Then tell her now." Gray stood from the ground and took a seat at the table Lucy had been sitting at before. He patted the spot next to him and pointed at Lucy to take the seat. She complied raising her eyebrows at how the atmosphere had changed between the two boys she called teammates.

"But we had a plan! Draw her in slowly, not just throw it all at her," Natsu complained as he took the seat on Lucy's other side.

"We were also going to hide our side of things until we snagged her, but it's too late for that now."

Lucy's head started swimming. Draw who in slowly? Snagged who? She looked between the boys as Gray gently took the stick of mistletoe from her hands. He held it up in the air over Lucy's head.

"Wha-what? What are you saying?" She looked between Gray and Natsu and then up at the mistletoe.

Natsu spoke first, "We just aren't a complete set without you, Luce."

Gray nodded in agreement. Lucy felt like her neck might break as she whipped her head back and forth between the boys next to her. Gray chuckled and Natsu gently reached for her chin, stopping her rising panic as he looked deeply into her eyes.

"Jeez Luce, if you keep that, you're gonna hurt yourself," Natsu grinned, then slowly leaned in and pecked the surprised celestial mage on the lips.

As soon as her lips were free, Gray turned her to face him instead and said, "I think we've snagged her, what do you think, Natsu?" Gray had sly smile teasing his lips before he leaned in and kissed the blonde.

A high pitched squeal of happy-rage came from just behind the three. Lucy turned to see what happened and found Mira stomping away. She could tell the barmaid was muttering something but couldn't hear what she was saying over the continued brawl that was happening elsewhere in the guild that now included Cana, Elfman, Jet, and Bickslow. Natsu started laughing, so she turned and asked, "What'd she say?"

Natsu took a few breaths to calm down, "She said that 'her game won't work with the three of us together' and started swearing in what I assume is some demon language she knows."

"Well, I was planning to skip out early anyway…" Gray started, meeting Natsu's eyes. The two nodded in agreement. Lucy was then, very unceremoniously lifted out of her seat and slung over Natsu's shoulder.

The fire mage started running for the door, "Last one to Luce's place doesn't get cuddles tonight!"

"It's on, Flame-Brain!"

"What. Is. Happening?!" Lucy whined as she was carried from the guild and Gray chased after them. "No one is getting cuddles in my bed!"


	2. After the Party

To say that Lucy was a bit overwhelmed and confused was an understatement. Her ribs were hurting from the unrelenting pace Gray was keeping as he sprinted towards her Strawberry St. apartment, her midriff bouncing off his lean shoulder with every step. Natsu was running beside them, a stupid grin on his face. The pink haired idiot looked like he'd just seen Igneel flying over-head. A glee so palpable it emanated from him in waves of heat that washed over the Ice mage and the irritated blonde like a warm summer breeze. It contrasted greatly with the snow-covered world they were racing through.

As they neared her building, Natsu pulled ahead, "I call Luce's amazing bed!" he shouted out as he leapt up to the sill of her lone window.

"Not on your life, coal-breath!"

Lucy coughed as she struggled to speak, but the air was continuously knocked from her lungs as Gray Ice-Made a staircase to the building's roof. If she could have spoken, she would have yelled something to the effect of "Neither of you gets to touch my bed!" … but, alas, her words blended together into a garbled moan as Gray took his stairs three at a time and shoved her down the chimney. Was that how he'd always gotten into her place? The fireplace. Ironic, really.

The brick scraped against her skin at her shoulders as she fell to the bottom where her fireplace gave entrance to her apartment.

"Move, Lucy!"

She moved. Uncoordinated and more of a scramble, but was out of the way just in time for Gray's feet to land.

Natsu was grinning at her from the bed. "You should really use the door, Luce," he teased.

Gray crawled out from the fireplace behind her, grunting at the awkward position. "You cheated, flame-tard!"

Natsu laughed, "You're just jealous you won't get cuddles."

"T'ch." Gray stood and offered a hand to Lucy to help her stand. The curvy blonde had landed roughly after her trip down the chimney, and Gray kind of felt bad now that he saw at least two bleeding scrapes on her shoulders.

Lucy blew her hair away from her face as she accepted Gray's help off the floor. "No one is getting cuddles! NATSU GET OFF MY BED! What the hell is going on?"

"C'mon Luce! Your bed is the best, and I won, so it's mine tonight!"

Natsu was flying out the window head first before Gray even realized her foot had raised for her famed 'Lucy Kick'. Luckily the window had been wide open, or else the flaming-idiot would have had to pay for yet another window repair. Gray chuckled, served him right.

"Gray! You will explain what is going on right now or I swear you're next!" Angry Lucy was out now. Her face was red with heat, her hair messy from her drop down the chimney, eyes burning with anger, and Gray couldn't find it in himself to look away or speak.

Instead, he moved to close the space between them and brought a cold hand up to cup her heart-shaped face. Their eyes met and the emotionally stunted ice mage watched entranced as the anger left her eyes to be replaced with confusion. The heat of her face turned to a blush of embarrassment rather than the flush of rage. She looked shy and her fingers fidgeted at her side. He wanted to lean in and kiss her, really kiss her. Not like the small peck he gave her at the guild hall. She was beautiful.

But… they had promised each other, Natsu and Gray, they would be with her together or not at all. He had to wait for his flame-headed boyfriend to return before he could make a move. He and Natsu were a set, and they wanted Lucy to be a part of that.

Truthfully, neither of them were positive she wanted either of them separately, let alone together. They just hoped that the secret looks they'd caught from her during jobs meant something. Like when her gaze followed them as they wrestled on the floor…. Or the small lick of her lips when she'd watch them dive into the guild pool. Natsu swore that Lucy was meant for them, but Gray couldn't help the fear that the overzealous dragon was looking too deeply into things.

"Gray?" Lucy whispered, calling him back from his thoughts. The honey and cinnamon-brown of her eyes swirled with concern. Her blush had faded. No longer nervous, just curious. He loved that he could read her so easily.

"Let's wait for Natsu, 'kay?" Gray dropped his hand back to his side and casually made himself at home on her small sofa. Lucy turned and watched as his limbs haphazardly flopped across the different surfaces of the second-hand treasure.

"I'm sorry for outing you guys in the guild hall…" she whispered. Maybe they had made a scene with her so that they could avoid the other guild members' teasing. She shouldn't have pushed them. Maybe they hadn't been ready. God, she was so stupid. What if they dragged her here to tell her to keep her mouth shut. There had been something in Gray's eyes, though. Something she couldn't decern as been anger, but was … something. Something intense.

"Nah, don't worry about it," Gray shrugged off. He wasn't looking at her now, he missed the insecurity written across her face. Gray's attention was on the window, waiting for the hyper fire dragon to climb back in. She hadn't kicked him that far.

The celestial mage raised her hand to touch the cheek he had held just moments ago. Her skin was cool, frosty even, from his touch. He'd never touched her like that before. He'd never looked at her like that before: like she was a woman, not just a friend. We're not a complete set without you, Luce. Natsu's voice echoed in her ears. Her hand drifted over to her lips. Her face burned with another blush. They had both k...kissed her. Why? A complete set?

No. Nope. Not really happening. This had to be a prank. Natsu and Gray were hot for each other, whatever the kisses meant it surely wasn't… THAT!

Lucy forced her feet to carry her to the desk which held her novel, the letters to her mother, and other small nick-nacks she'd picked up from jobs Team Natsu had completed. She sat in the rusted desk chair and waited. Thinking.

Recently, Team Natsu had been missing Erza and Wendy on missions. Wendy had started a new team with Romeo and Chelia ( Team Wind and Fire), the god slayer had decided to jump ship to Fairy Tail only a month before. The three of them made a fierce team and Lucy was proud of her 'little sister' and Natsu's mentee. Erza had decided to solo for a while. She was getting over her heartache when Jellal and Meredy announced their pregnancy. Lucy didn't like letting the tattered Requip mage go off on her own and had forced her way onto some of Erza's harder missions, but her scarlet haired friend was becoming increasingly stealthy when leaving for jobs. Lucy wondered if it had something to do with a certain blue mohawked seith mage who seemed to disappear from the guild every time Erza did.

It had been just the three of them, and Happy, for a while now. Maybe that is what Natsu had meant when he said they were a set? They were a team, partners? Lucy nodded to herself. Yes, that had to be it. Her face turned red again as her mind replayed their kisses in the guild's main hall. Both had been so confident in their actions. They acted like it was just natural for them to squeeze her person between theirs and… kiss her. Lucy covered her face with her hands, her mind taking a spin through the gutter as her brain flashed a picture of the three of them doing other things under the cover of her pink bedspread.

"Did ya have to kick me in-tah the canal, Luce?" Natsu climbed back through the window, his voice startling the blonde from her mental trip down perv lane.

"Why's your face all red," Natsu teased, only to become slightly serious as he turned to Gray, "You didn't…?"

"What? Nah, wanted to wait for you. Promised, right?" Gray grinned. It was a soft, teasing grin. It was something that Lucy had never really seen the usually stoic ice-mage do. The way it changed his face and made his features look up-lifted and handsome. He had dimples on his checks and Lucy couldn't stop herself from staring. He looked… happy? Relaxed?

Natsu grinned in return, "Yeah, promised." Natsu looked like his boyish self as he smiled in a way that made everything around him light up just like his fire magic. Natsu hopped from the window sill and grabbed onto Gray's forearm and dragged the ice-make wizard from his sprawled position on the couch. He pulled until Gray was standing and then pushed him towards the bed to sit.

"C'mon Luce," Natsu motioned for his blonde partner to sit between himself and Gray on the edge of her bed.

"Yeah, we should talk," Gray said, smiling invitingly to his longtime friend.

"Um, sure… Yeah. Talk," the girl mumbled, blushing madly again as she observed the two sitting on her bed. Gray was somehow down to his boxers; his coat, shirt, pants, and shoes all nowhere to be found. Then there was Natsu with his open vest and loose fitting pants… The two of them together, on her bed, looking half naked was enough to make Lucy's face heat up like she was sitting way to close to a fire pit, which with the Fire Dragon Slayer in the room, was kind of true. The boy was a walking heater.

Despite her nervousness and the part of her that wanted to run away from whatever was happening, Lucy couldn't help how curious she was to figure out what was going on. So she quietly moved away from her desk and sat between her two best friends on the edge of her bed.

Gray started, "I guess we kind of kidnapped you from the guild, huh." He chuckled softly as he rubbed his palms over his knees nervously. "But… I guess this conversation is better done in private?"

"Yeah. Okay," Lucy replied softly, not sure where Gray was heading but wanting to assure him he could continue.

"Uh, yeah. So I guess you know that Natsu and I… well, we've been… you know…" the dark-haired man sighed as he stumbled over his words. "I'm not good at any of this."

"Dating?" Lucy tried to supply as Natsu chuckled beside her.

"You're such a moron, ice-prick!" Natsu teased. "Fucking," he corrected. "Dating… We're together, but we haven't gone out anywhere together. He's mine and I'm his…" Natsu supplied with a shrug.

"What the hell, ash-brains!? I was tyin' to say it… nicely."

"Was that not nicely?" Natsu looked genuinely confused.

Gray pushed against Lucy in an effort to reach across her to grab Natsu, but the busty blonde put a halt to his actions, "If you start a fight in my apartment again…"

Natsu and Gray shuddered. A few months back they had broken her stove after fighting in her apartment, and the two of them had been banned from entering for three weeks straight. Lucy had Levy and Fried line her house with runes just to keep the two out. It had been miserable for both boys.

After a few calming breaths, Gray continued, "Yeah, so ya know we're together."

Lucy nodded. "I saw you two cuddling after one of our jobs. It wasn't too hard to piece it together after that," she smiled reassuringly turning to Natsu and then back to Gray so they could see the acceptance for their relationship in her facial expression. "I am totally happy for both of you, ya know. I can see that you make each other complete," the girl continued grinning as she spoke. She didn't want them to see the weird little hope that had popped up in her that they actually wanted her to be a part of that relationship.

They were gay. They were dating each other. They were probably wanting to just let her know there weren't kicking her off the team just because they were together. Yeah. That was it. She grinned wider. Nope, it didn't hurt that neither of them wanted her in that way. And of course, she'd never wanted them that way! Right? She was a terrible liar, even to herself.

Gray shook his head ruefully, a gentle smile gracing his lips, "Yeah, Natsu does make me happy, even if he does have nothing but ashes up in that thick skull of his."

"Hey!" Natsu rubbed at the back of his head, looking indignant. "Yeah, we're happy!"

"I'm glad," Lucy pipped in. "So, um, at the guild, I'm sorry if outing your relationship wasn't what you guys wanted. I guess I should have thought about that… You were keeping it private for a reason. I'm so sorry, guys! I am such a jerk!"

Natsu waved his hands in front of his body as if he was trying to swat her words away. "What?! No Luce! Don't worry about it. We were only keeping it private because it isn't complete yet."

"Yeah, Lucy, as I said earlier, it's no big deal," Gray shrugged.

"I don't get it. What isn't complete about your relationship?" Lucy wondered.

"You, ya weirdo!" Natsu laughed. "I thought we were clear at the guild hall before we brought ya back home."

"Me?"

Gray sighed, "She doesn't get what you mean, Natsu."

"We kissed her, what's there to get. I told ya, Luce, we're not a complete set without you."

"Really, Natsu? What the idiot is trying to say is…"

"You want me… to be in your relationship?" the girl questioned softly. She was scared that she was still interpreting Natsu's meaning completely wrong.

"YES!" the excitable fire dragon pumped his fist in the air as he answered her.

"Why?" the celestial mage asked dumbfounded.

"You're what brought us together, Luce, why else!"

"Huh?"

"What the idiot is trying to explain is that you are the reason he and I got together in the first place. I mean, we may fight a lot, but we're best friends. When we told each other that we both wanted you… We... explored... options that would keep the team together rather than rip it apart. It's when we realized our less than friendly attraction to each other…"

"Oh. Uh, okay? I guess."

"Yeah, that was an interesting day," Gray reminisced.

"One of the best days," Natsu laughed.

"But if you are happy together then why do you need me?" Lucy pried. Between Gray's general lack of emotion and Natsu's less than stellar ability to be serious for more than a few minutes at a time, Lucy knew that if she wanted them to say they liked her she would need to pull the words from them.

"Well that's easy Luce, we love ya!" Natsu said as he relaxed on her bed, laying back with his hand tucked behind his head. He acted like he hadn't a care in the world like what he was saying was completely normal. "We have the same feelings for each other that we do for you. That's why we ain't complete. We need ya because we love ya."

"L-lo-love? Mm-me?" Lucy stuttered in response. She quickly turned to Gray to see what his reaction would be to Natsu's casual declaration. "Both of you?"

Gray smiled a real smile. Those dimples. The small crinkles beside his eyes that made the color in them dance. "Yes Lucy, both of us."

"I… I…. Well this is… Both?"

"Ya don't have to decide on anything now, Luce," Natsu spoke softly. "We knew there was a chance you might only like one of us or neither of us." The pink haired dragon sat up on his elbow to get a better look at the girl he so desperately wanted to accept him. "Just know that Gray and I aren't separating. We are a package deal."

Lucy nodded in understanding. She either agreed to date both of them or neither of them. "And… If …. The team?"

Gray seemed to understand what she was asking and answered, "We are friends first, Lucy. Always." Gray placed a hand on her shoulder and continued, "If you don't want this, that's fine, no hard feelings. We are a team, we are partners. We won't leave you hanging just because you won't be our girlfriend."

Natsu pulled on a lock of her blonde hair to grab her attention, "We're the best of friends Luce. This doesn't change that no matter what you decide."

"And if I… want to?" Lucy worried her bottom lip between her teeth. They were both already so comfortable with each other and, according to Natsu, having sex. She wasn't a virgin, but she wasn't confident about the idea of two partners at once or even how that would all work.

Natsu grinned mischievously, "Oh the things we will do to you Lucy…." his voice was huskier and his eyes were narrowed as he watched her teeth terrorize her bottom lip.

"Don't scare her, flame-tard!" Gray reached behind Lucy and smacked the fire dragon on the shoulder. "We can take things at your pace, Lucy. We won't force you into anything you're not comfortable with. But it will be the three of us. Not you and Natsu and then me and you. It will be You, me, and Natsu as one unit. Soo…" he paused, not sure if she got his meaning. "I mean we'll have individual relationships with each other, but we aren't separate… Gah, I'm just messing this up!" Natsu sent Gray a comforting look behind the blonde's back and Gray seemed to settle back down.

The room was silent. Lucy continued to bite at her bottom lip. She was anxious. She was embarrassed to admit that she'd wanted both of them for a while now. But wouldn't she just be the third wheel? They were already an item… It would be like their team, wouldn't it? Natsu and Gray running off together to fight while she was kept safely away? In this case, it wouldn't it be Natsu and Gray running off to fuck while she stayed scared and alone and not ready. Surely they wouldn't halt their current relationship just to keep her comfortable, right?

"But… you two have already… and I… What if this doesn't work? What if you don't like me once you have me? What if I don't like you once I have you? What if we can never really feel the same way about each other? What if this just fucks up our team? What about Happy? The guild? Oh my god, what will Cana say? Mira didn't seem to mind…. What if I'm not any good at this? What if I get jealous when you two have sex without me? What if you get jealous?"

"Woah, Woah! Lucy!" Gray wrapped an arm around the rambling blonde, turning so he was able to tuck the girl against him as she continued to mutter 'What if's' into his shoulder. The ice mage met the memorizing eyes of his fire dragon and pleaded for help.

Natsu sat all the way up and scooted so that he could comfortably pat Lucy on the back. "There is always a risk, Luce, that things won't work the way we want them to. No matter how much we love each other, there will always be a time where we'll disagree or fight. Relationships take work. I guess you just need to decide if the happiness you gain when being with us is worth the hardships and work you put into it."

"Wow, that was really mature, idiot."

Natsu rolled his eyes at his boyfriend. "Luce… Luce… Lucy!"

"Huh?" the dazed girl answered as she pulled away from Gray's embrace.

"I think we can do this. I want to try this with the three of us. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work. But I think trying is worth it. Ya only live once, right?"

Gray rubbed her arm as she stared blankly for a while. "I think we broke her," he muttered.

"Nah she's just thinkin' it over." Natsu reached across Lucy and brushed his fingers across Gray's cheek. He could see the fear of rejection reflected in the dark blue eyes of his ice-mage. Gray didn't like emotions, expressing them just wasn't something that he was good at. It was one of the reasons they had waited so long after hooking up the first time to approach Lucy. Gray just didn't want to put himself out there, again. He felt lucky that Natsu had accepted him, and he felt like asking for Lucy too was pushing his luck. Natsu knew because he felt the same, that losing Lucy was not an option for Gray. They needed her like they needed water to stay alive. Natsu tried to convey to his lover that everything would work out. It wasn't that Natsu wasn't scared of Lucy turning them down, he just had an instinctual feeling that this was the right thing. Lucy was smart, and he believed that she would eventually come around because he knew she needed them too.

Lucy felt oddly secure at that moment. Gray's arms were wrapped around her and Natsu was reaching around to hold onto Gray, trapping her between them. Natsu's chin rested on her shoulder while he caressed Gray with one hand and held onto the ice-mages knee with the other. She was sandwiched between her two closest friends. And it felt… it felt… right. Her anxiety about the situation leaked out of her and her muscles relaxed.

"If you keep chewing on your lip like that, I'm going to be forced to take action to save it," Gray chuckled after feeling his friend relax in his arms. He glanced at his boyfriend whose face reflected the relief Gray was feeling. Lucy was not rejecting them. They knew her too well and the way her shoulders had slumped, going from heiress to common girl, they knew she was comfortable. Comfortable Lucy meant neither of them was getting kicked out for being perverts. Comfortable, shy Lucy meant she was gaining the courage to tell them her feelings. The movement of her teeth against her lip was more a tease now than it was an anxiety driven response.

"Save it?" Lucy murmured. At first, she hadn't understood what he was talking about, not even realizing she had been nibbling on the dry skin of her lower lip. But her eyes widened in realization as Gray's eyes danced with hughes of dark blue and black and he started to lean towards her.

Gray didn't hesitate. His right hand slid up from her back, across her neck, until he was cupping her cheek in his palm. "With pleasure, love."

Natsu moved back so that Gray could move in to kiss the girl of their collective dreams and grinned. Luce called him oblivious, but in reality, it was the blonde who always seemed to be caught off guard by the underlying meaning of her own words. Her tone had implied she was just resurfacing from her thoughts. He couldn't blame Gray, though. Natsu knew he would have done the same. Any excuse to touch her soft lips again…

Gray sucked on her abused bottom lip until it came free from its torturers. He ran his tongue across the swollen flesh before nipping at it himself. He moved back and looked into the wide brown eyes of his teammate. Her cheeks were rosy and her lips remained slightly parted as a shuddering gasp passed through them.

"That's better," the ice-mage teased.

"I guess this means you're ours, right Luce," Natsu laughed. "Although, I think it is my turn to seal the deal," he wagged his eyebrows up and down in a silly display of flirting. His arm wrapped around the blonde mage and pulled her back against his chest tightly. Using his free hand he turned her face to the side, fingers gently guiding her chin in the direction he wished her to look. He leaned around the blonde and captured her lips with his own. He gently caressed her lips with his own before pressing more firmly against her mouth. His tongue danced along the seam of her lips, which were still slightly parted in her surprise. He didn't want to scare her into shutting them down, though, so he kept it chaste. He would keep the pillaging to after he was sure she was actually going to stay with them.

When he leaned back from the kiss he saw the gears finally kick on in the Celestial Mage's head. He was nervous for a moment, had they made the wrong assumptions when she relaxed in their hold? Would she freak out at them kissing her again? Now it was Natsu who was biting at his lower lip as he searched Lucy's expressive eyes.

Her eyes narrowed.

"I didn't say I agreed to this yet…" the blonde huffed. She turned to glare at Gray before pointing a figure at the grinning man. "You! I didn't say you could kiss me!"

He laughed, "You said to save it!"

She smacked his shoulder, "That's not what I meant and you know it!"

Gray laughed harder, "Ouch, Lucy! C'mon! Ouch! I'm sorry, not sorry!"

The blonde crossed her arms over her chest. The action was less to do with her anger and more to do with her effort of keeping her heart from beating out of her rib cage. They both really wanted her. Her best friends. The most attractive men she had ever had the pleasure of knowing… Both! Both wanted her to be a part of their lives in the same way she had always dreamed of being a part of theirs.

Her hand drifted up to her lips. She smiled. "Yes. I want this. I'll be your girlfriend."

The boys cheered. And she was a Lucy sandwich once more.


End file.
